THE BEST FULLFRAME LENSES FROM CHINA

[Fons Baerken]

THE BEST FULLFRAME LENSES FROM CHINA

https://phillipreeve.net/blog/

Interesting writing, article or review on fullframe lenses!

[Akira]

There is no doubt that Chinese optics companies are quite aggressive in developing challenging lenses.

The only one thing I'm concerned about is their quality control.  I have a number of sour experiences even with the Japanese and German established manufacturers, so I cannot help being skeptical about their QC.

[Birna Rørslett]

Quality control, or lack thereof, is definitively an aspect when considering the Chinese lens offerings. That being said, I only have good experiences with Laowa (4 items) and Viltrox (3 items),  but for two other brands the product delivered was way off expectations. in fact, for a Mitakon Zhongyi macro lens, what I got was nearly unusable. I wrote the company and never got an answer. Which is of course an answer in itself.

[Birna Rørslett]

My stern warning is to avoid the Zhongyi 85mm f/2.8 APO 1-5X Super Macro. My sample is useful as a doorstop or paperweight, but hardly anything else. Both these items can be had for much less money than what this lens required. I complained in writing to the maker and never got a reply. Draw your conclusion yourself regarding QC and customer service.

[Toby]

FWIW I have the TT Artisan 10mm f2.8 Ffisheye and it is a stellar lens, very sharp across frame already at f2.8. Very high contrast and almost complete lack of flare. Mechanically robust, smooth and excellent. Also, being a 10mm FF lens, this signifies near stereographic projection, which means lens barrel distortion, ie, the center is smaller than it would be with a 16mm FF fisheye, so the distortion is more evenly distributed across the frame, which I find much more pleasing. It puts the older Korean Samyang I have to shame, and is far better than my 15mm f2.8 Fisheye-Nikkor in the corners, as well as having more pleasing projection. Kudos to them!

[Akira]

FWIW I have the TT Artisan 10mm f2.8 Ffisheye and it is a stellar lens, very sharp across frame already at f2.8. Very high contrast and almost complete lack of flare. Mechanically robust, smooth and excellent. Also, being a 10mm FF lens, this signifies near stereographic projection, which means lens barrel distortion, ie, the center is smaller than it would be with a 16mm FF fisheye, so the distortion is more evenly distributed across the frame, which I find much more pleasing. It puts the older Korean Samyang I have to shame, and is far better than my 15mm f2.8 Fisheye-Nikkor in the corners, as well as having more pleasing projection. Kudos to them!

Toby, do you mean !!mm f2.8?

[Roland Vink]

FWIW I have the TT Artisan 10mm f2.8 Ffisheye and it is a stellar lens, very sharp across frame already at f2.8. Very high contrast and almost complete lack of flare. Mechanically robust, smooth and excellent. Also, being a 10mm FF lens, this signifies near stereographic projection, which means lens barrel distortion, ie, the center is smaller than it would be with a 16mm FF fisheye, so the distortion is more evenly distributed across the frame, which I find much more pleasing. It puts the older Korean Samyang I have to shame, and is far better than my 15mm f2.8 Fisheye-Nikkor in the corners, as well as having more pleasing projection. Kudos to them!

I assume you mean 16mm f2.8 Fisheye-Nikkor. I have the AIS version and agree, the images are rather blurred in the corners even when stopped well down, and the distortion profile is not very pleasing. The only 15mm fisheye-Nikkor is the 8-15mm zoom, which I am sure is much sharper than the old AIS prime.

Which Samyang do you have? I have been wondering if the Samyang 12mm fisheye for Nikon F would be an improvement over my 16mm fisheye.

[Akira]

Which Samyang do you have? I have been wondering if the Samyang 12mm fisheye for Nikon F would be an improvement over my 16mm fisheye.

Roland, I used Samyang 7.5mm f3.5 for m4/3 whose image quality was amazing even wide open.  Based on that experience, I also looked at the 12mm you mention for my D750.  The sample I tried at a camera store was not as impressive as the 7.5mm, so I passed it on.

[Fons Baerken]

Z7_2, TTArtisan 90mm f/1.25

[Toby]

Toby, do you mean !!mm f2.8?

My bad. It is the 7 Artisans 10mm f2.8 fisheye

[Akira]

My bad. It is the 7 Artisans 10mm f2.8 fisheye

Thank you for the confirmation.  The Japanese dealer hasn't dealt with this particular yet, and I haven't aware of it.  Looks interesting.

How many aperture blades does it have?

[Roland Vink]

My bad. It is the 7 Artisans 10mm f2.8 fisheye

The 7artisans store states 8 aperture blades. Sample images also show 8-pointed diffraction stars.
With a 10mm focal length for FX format, it must have relatively low distortion for a fisheye compared to 15mm or 16mm fisheyes with the same angle of view.

[Birna Rørslett]

Their site says 11mm f/2.8

[Roland Vink]

7Artisans is 10mm: https://7artisans.store/products/7artisans-10mm-f2-8-full-frame-fisheye-lens-for-e-l-r-z-mount
mirrorless only

TTArtisans is 11mm: https://www.ttartisan.com/?list_9/78.html
This one appears to be available for DSLRs also

[Akira]

TTArtisans is 11mm: https://www.ttartisan.com/?list_9/78.html
This one appears to be available for DSLRs also
[/quote]

According to the Japanese dealer of TT artisan, they make different versions for DSLRs and Mirrorlesses in different optical designs:

DSLR:

https://www.stkb.jp/shopdetail/000000001823/ttartisan_lens/page1/order/

Mirrorless:

https://www.stkb.jp/shopdetail/000000001355/ttartisan_lens/page2/order/